Chapter 14.

“Well, since you got the fire going, I can finally cook you a meal you should be able to stomach.”

“A… meal… that was why you got me to start a fire?”

“Of course.”

“What exactly are you… cooking?”

Cooking and Adele in the same sentence was one of my greatest fears. It wasn’t something like her cooking was so bad it could leave you hospitalized. Rather, it was the complete opposite. It was so good, but the ingredients were never anything a sane person would use in a meal.

Naturally, my brain sounded the ‘oh shit son, boy you done, this can’t be good’ alarm on full blast.

“Adele, I’m really not hungry yet.”

GrrrrrrrrRRRRrrrrrr!

“What was that sound then?”

“That wasn’t my stomach. It was just a bit of indigestion from something I ate.”

“Liar. Just be honest and admit you’ve been patiently waiting for me to offer to cook you a meal.”

“I’m really fine. I don’t need anything at all.”

“Just sit there and give me a few minutes. I’ll have something ready in no time.”

Adele got up and grabbed the piece of flaming drywood. She gathered a few sticks then put the flaming drywood beneath them and enclosed the flame with a few rocks to form a makeshift campfire.

She pulled out a frying pan from her backpack and placed it over the flame to heat it up. The next thing she pulled out made me break out into a stream of cold sweat as I anxiously watched her pour it out onto the frying pan.

“Uhm… Adele…”

“What is it?”

“Are you trying to poison me to death?”

“Of course not.”

“Then you can’t really expect me to eat that… can you?”

“What’s wrong with it? It’s the most flavorful part I saved especially for you.”

My breathing became heavier and deeper.

The sound of some flesh like thing frying in a pan was the only thing I could focus on. I couldn’t take my eyes off of what she’d put in the pan. She was cooking death. She pulled out a few other ingredients from her bag and actually started to season it up.

“What are you putting in?”

“That’s of course a trade secret, Darling.”

“No no no. I think I have the right to know what is going into this. You are cooking bloody tentacles dripping with poison right now. You can’t seriously expect me to eat that!”

“Don’t worry about it. Have I ever cooked anything for you that didn’t taste good?”

“If I knew what was in it back then, I’m sure it wouldn’t have tasted good.”

“Liar, I know how much you loved my cooking. You used to gulp it down like the food was going to run away.”

“That was before I found out what you used to season it and what the main ingredients actually were.”

“As long as it tastes good, it doesn’t really matter what’s in it, right?”

“For you maybe, but normal people can get sick from strange concoctions like this, even if it tastes good.”

Adele didn’t pay any attention to my protests and continued to cook. I listened closely to the popping sounds and sizzling noises inside the pan. I grew more and more nervous with each passing second. When it was over, I’d be forced to eat that abomination like thing? I squirmed uncomfortably just from thinking about the texture I’d feel when I put it in my mouth.

After ten grueling minutes passed by in extreme discomfort, she took the pan off the fire and took a sturdy reusable plastic plate out of her bag.

Watching the entire process step by step was agonizing, but despite how repulsive the end result looked, my stomach couldn’t lie. It actually smelled delicious. 

Scary. It was too scary. If she could really make anything smell this good, then could she even make human meat into a delicacy? Had she ever tried it? I shuddered at the thought of it as I internally reconfirmed that cooking was truly among Adele’s most terrifying talents.

Once the poisonous tentacles were fully cooked and plated, she presented the plate to me like it was a fine delicacy with a malicious smile on her face.

“Now... Darling... you avoided it last time, but this time I’ll make sure you’re grovelling at my feet in worship over how out of this world the food tastes. There’s no escape for you this time. Open wide. Bon appetit.”

“Adele… I need a drink.”

“I can give you a drink after you taste it first.”

“But what if I choke?”

“That would be even better. I can perform mouth to mouth resuscitation and bring you back from the dead.”

“Adele, you do realize how strong that poison is, right? Don’t you think it would be a bit dangerous if it isn’t at least diluted a little? I could seriously die you know.”

“Haaaaaah. Do you really have no confidence in my cooking? Look, it’s really not poisonous.”

“Not poisonous? Do you think I’m an idiot who’d just say oh really? Cool. Then digs in without a second thought?”

“It’s really not poisonous. I swear.”

“Then… ladies first!”

“This again? Fine, whatever. Last time we were interrupted at this point, but this time that’s impossible so I don’t mind playing along with your willfulness again.”

Without a shred of fear, she picked up one of the stretchy jellyfish tentacles surrounded in a crispy outer coating. If you thought of something tasty like chicken, sorry, this weird outer coating was a nasty blackish dark purple color. The inside was still transparent through. I didn’t want to put it anywhere near my mouth, but Adele placed one end of a tentacles between her lips then slowly slurped it up with her eyes pointed 45 degrees downward in my direction.

I lowered the plate a bit because I felt overly conscious of where she was looking. It was honestly too suggestive. If not for my disgust for the tentacle between her lips, I’d probably have my mind wander to some rather inappropriate places.

When the full tentacle was inside her mouth, she chewed on it a bit before she swallowed. When finished, she licked her lips before a provocative jeering smile formed on her face.

“See? Aren’t I fine? Hurry up and eat it while it’s still hot and fresh out of the pan.”

“Give it a few minutes. It should take a bit before your body reacts to the venom.”